Connect with us

Instruction

WATCH: Justin Rose’s Short Game Tips and Philosophies (Full Video)

Published

on

Fresh off his win at the 2018 Fort Worth Invitational, Justin Rose showed up on Tuesday at a TaylorMade media event held at Heritage Golf Club — just down the road from Muirfield Village during The Memorial — to give an insight into his short game philosophies. He had traveled home to the Bahamas after his win on Sunday, but he made it back for the event in Ohio on Tuesday. Much appreciated, JR.

Thanks to his generosity, and brilliant golf mind, Rose gifted the on-site media members with a short game clinic for the ages. Using TaylorMade’s new Hi-Toe wedge — he spoke on the versatility of the grind throughout the session — he hit long bunker shots, short bunker shots, flop shots, low skippers and high lobs. And he taught us how to play all of the shots.

Due to popular demand on our Instagram account, where we’ve released snippets of his instruction, we’ve decided to release all of the videos we have from the event. Yes, we shot the videos with a phone so there’s a bit of wind and volume issues, but we thought the instruction and philosophies in this video needed to be seen.

Enjoy the video below!! For a glossary of time stamps/topics and transcription, check underneath the video.

Long bunker shots — 0:06

“Even for these very long bunker shots, you’ll see me play a lot of loft. A lot of face open. And, yea, one, by playing it open I’m not gonna hit the ball very far. But the more I play it open, the more bounce I’m putting on it. To me, bounce is the most important thing to create distance in a bunker shot. So even though I’m playing it super wide open, I also have my stance really really wide. And the only reason I do that is I feel like the narrower I stand, the steeper my angle of attack. The wider I stand, the shallower my angle of attack. So again, more ability to use that bounce and the less chance of my club digging in.”

Short bunker shots — 0:42

“So I’ll stand very wide, then I’m gonna go a lot more weight on my left side. Now I’m gonna be using a different part of my club and really trusting the leading edge. Face super wide open, and I’m just gonna be chopping the leading edge right on the ball…. That’s the way I would play it to come out super short. And sometimes that’s the way you have to play it when there’s not a lot of sand in the bunker. When you’re trying to play a super delicate shot, and you sort of like, and you’re really trying to get under the ball, and if you’ve got not enough sand, the clubs gonna bounce and you’re not gonna get that coming out soft.”

Flop shots from good lies — 1:29

“I’m gonna play it how I feel is almost a very shallow, sweepy draw feel. I wanna feel very connected with my elbows and my body. A bit like the bunker, I’m gonna have the ball up and have my hands low, but I’m not gonna be open. And I’m basically just gonna stay very connected. And gonna sweep underneath it.

Flop shots from bad lies — 1:54

This doesn’t now offer me the same opportunity. Now I’m gonna be using the front end of the golf club. So now obviously I need loft. I’m very willing to lay it wide open. Now I’m 90 percent of my weight on my front foot. This is a bit more like how Mickelson would hit his lob shots. He’s way open, weight is way left, and he really commits to driving the leading edge down. And you’re saying you designed it with almost 25 degrees of bounce (the TaylorMade Hi-Toe wedge) on the leading edge; that would really give me the confidence to really drive that down into the ground. So with a bad lie, I’m going weight forward, (face) way open… and driving it down.”

How to use the bounce like Seve — 2:42

“Now one thing I’ve learned not to be scared of even on a tight lie, is, so, you have position 1 (lead armpit), 2 (middle of chest) and 3 (rear armpit). So I’ve always felt that where the most important ball position is relative to your upper body not necessarily your feet. I feel like when we’re chipping, the club always wants to lengthen at its longest/lowest point, underneath the left arm or left armpit area, so that’s the low point. So if I put the ball back, my low points ahead of the ball. So it’s always going to be descending, descending, descending, descending, until it gets to my low point, which is ahead of the ball. So that’s a way to guarantee contact.

So if I want to hit a soft shot, I’m sometimes more than happy to play the ball and the low point at the same point. And I’m more than happy to actually put the handle of the club behind. So it’s position 1 (left armpit), position 1 (the ball) and position 2 (the club). And now, just keep these connection with my armpits and turn through. And that’s, believe it or not, how Seve (Ballesteros) chipped there; hit three or four inches behind it. He often talked about that the ground absorbs the energy of the club like the sand. The sand slows the club down. Seve always liked the ball to come out soft and never relied on spin. He wanted it to roll in as much as he could like a putt. He would always go for height, land, roll out. Rather than low, grabby, spinner.

Phil vs. Seve technique — 4:16

The Phil Mickelson approach would be, he’s always committed to driving that thing down. He’s the hinge it, and pinch it. So he’s always working that leading edge down. And I guess that’s why he uses that 64-degree, his method’s very different. Seve only ever used a 56-degree. Seve could hit incredibly soft shots; his whole technique was designed about returning loft, increasing loft. And he would always be really soft on grip pressure. One thing, he would always hold it 1 or 2 out of 10 and literally chip it and let go of the club. That’s how soft it would be in his hands.

But anyways the other approach is if you kind of got the heebee-jeebees and hit the ground first, Phil’s approach is the simplest possible shot is you hit everything off the back foot with a square club face. It’s that hinge, and a pinch through. And then obviously if he needs to do something different, he will play it front foot, open club face, and still very much the same; hinge it, and pinch it through. That’s all well and good, but the contact, there’s no margin for error. You have to be spot on every single time.

Long arc vs. Short arc — 5:29

I think for me, if you basically just… the principles are if you want to get back to a back pin I always tend to go long arc, so the club and my left arm being long, and that arc is quite long, it’s going to have more energy, more mass on the strike. That’s always coming out quite quick. Now I’m always going to get the ball back to a back pin. If I’m playing something shorter to a front pin, I’m always feeling like I’m now getting down to it. I’m cracking the left elbow. So I’m making the radius, the length shorter so there’s less energy, less mass. And now I’m gonna be shortening it even more. So I’ll get that coming out soft. So just some of the principles really that are involved.

Traditional putting grip vs. the claw — 6:25

So when I putt traditionally I’m very sensitive, I feel every little, tiny movement of my stroke and I start to nitpick my stroke way too much. When I put this grip (the claw) in play I found that I sort of calmed down all the sensations that I was feeling a little bit and just made everything a little more simple up here (points to head). So I don’t fight the stroke as much. And that’s the most important thing. So yea I get in there this way. The reason I tuck the shirt in last week (at the Fort Worth Invitational, which he won) is that I felt that I was beginning to steer it a bit. I felt like I was beginning to push my hands out a little bit too much. So just by popping this here (shirt under the left armpit), I wasn’t jamming it in, but it just kinda gave me the sense that my chest and upper left arm could work in rhythm together. And that felt like it just really helped with the rhythm and the flow of the stroke. (A pretty cheap training aid). Yea.

Justin Rose’s putting routine — 7:20

As I walk into the putt, I’m building that picture back to the ball, so I’m kind of aware where the ball is and I’m building that line back. I then sort of quiet my eyes down at the ball, I then feel like I’m… on the back of my putter it has a channel, so I feel like I’m laying down a bit of a tube or a channel for the first couple feet. This little clear area (points to cutout in the back of his putter), it pretty much is the width of the ball, so I feel like I’m just laying down like a bit of a starting tube really. Now that’s what the ball is going to start down. I don’t really consciously aim the putter but I set my tube is what it feels like. And then I set my awareness to the hole, and then I track my eyes down the line to the hole. Awareness back to the ball, eyes back to the ball, and now the key is my eyes are staying dead still on the ball but my awareness goes to the hole and I’ll react to that. (Drains 6-footer.)

Your Reaction?
  • 155
  • LEGIT7
  • WOW7
  • LOL2
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP1
  • OB1
  • SHANK2

He played on the Hawaii Pacific University Men's Golf team and earned a Masters degree in Communications. He also played college golf at Rutgers University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

9 Comments

9 Comments

  1. The Dude

    Jun 1, 2018 at 4:26 pm

    AT!….this is how it’s done!….thanks for this….great stuff!!!

  2. golfraven

    Jun 1, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    I always thought that Justin Rose has a great way of explaining things. I have a video from eaeoy 2000s with him and that was when he started to sharpen his game. Great vid ??????????????

    • Mizzle Fizzle

      Jun 1, 2018 at 9:49 pm

      Absolutely. Justin would be a 5 bill/hr instructor if he couldn’t play unconscious golf.
      Very astute student of the game with more majors in his future.

  3. ROY

    Jun 1, 2018 at 3:08 pm

    Great stuff!!!!

  4. chuck harvey iv

    Jun 1, 2018 at 2:14 pm

    Had my volume 100% and couldn’t hear very well , very low recording.

  5. Brian

    Jun 1, 2018 at 1:52 pm

    This is incredible. So simple, well articulated, and helpful for anyone who wants to increase consistency in their short game.

  6. Dom

    Jun 1, 2018 at 12:51 pm

    This might be one of the best instructional videos you all have put up on the website. Thank you! And thank you, Justin Rose!

  7. Mr M

    Jun 1, 2018 at 12:21 pm

    Would be great to see more videos from pros just like this. Excellent insight from Justin!

  8. Sideshow Rob

    Jun 1, 2018 at 11:42 am

    So much gold in this video. Thank you Justin! This needs to get put up on Youtube.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Instruction

Clement: Stop ripping off your swing with this drill!

Published

on

Not the dreaded headcover under the armpit drill! As if your body is defective and can’t function by itself! Have you seen how incredible the human machine is with all the incredible feats of agility all kinds of athletes are accomplishing? You think your body is so defective (the good Lord is laughing his head off at you) that it needs a headcover tucked under the armpit so you can swing like T-Rex?

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

Instruction

How a towel can fix your golf swing

Published

on

This is a classic drill that has been used for decades. However, the world of marketed training aids has grown so much during that time that this simple practice has been virtually forgotten. Because why teach people how to play golf using everyday items when you can create and sell a product that reinforces the same thing? Nevertheless, I am here to give you helpful advice without running to the nearest Edwin Watts or adding something to your Amazon cart.

For the “scoring clubs,” having a solid connection between the arms and body during the swing, especially through impact, is paramount to creating long-lasting consistency. And keeping that connection throughout the swing helps rotate the shoulders more to generate more power to help you hit it farther. So, how does this drill work, and what will your game benefit from it? Well, let’s get into it.

Setup

You can use this for basic chip shots up to complete swings. I use this with every club in my bag, up to a 9 or 8-iron. It’s natural to create incrementally more separation between the arms and body as you progress up the set. So doing this with a high iron or a wood is not recommended.

While you set up to hit a ball, simply tuck the towel underneath both armpits. The length of the towel will determine how tight it will be across your chest but don’t make it so loose that it gets in the way of your vision. After both sides are tucked, make some focused swings, keeping both arms firmly connected to the body during the backswing and follow through. (Note: It’s normal to lose connection on your lead arm during your finishing pose.) When you’re ready, put a ball in the way of those swings and get to work.

Get a Better Shoulder Turn

Many of us struggle to have proper shoulder rotation in our golf swing, especially during long layoffs. Making a swing that is all arms and no shoulders is a surefire way to have less control with wedges and less distance with full swings. Notice how I can get in a similar-looking position in both 60° wedge photos. However, one is weak and uncontrollable, while the other is strong and connected. One allows me to use my larger muscles to create my swing, and one doesn’t. The follow-through is another critical point where having a good connection, as well as solid shoulder rotation, is a must. This drill is great for those who tend to have a “chicken wing” form in their lead arm, which happens when it becomes separated from the body through impact.

In full swings, getting your shoulders to rotate in your golf swing is a great way to reinforce proper weight distribution. If your swing is all arms, it’s much harder to get your weight to naturally shift to the inside part of your trail foot in the backswing. Sure, you could make the mistake of “sliding” to get weight on your back foot, but that doesn’t fix the issue. You must turn into your trial leg to generate power. Additionally, look at the difference in separation between my hands and my head in the 8-iron examples. The green picture has more separation and has my hands lower. This will help me lessen my angle of attack and make it easier to hit the inside part of the golf ball, rather than the over-the-top move that the other picture produces.

Stay Better Connected in the Backswing

When you don’t keep everything in your upper body working as one, getting to a good spot at the top of your swing is very hard to do. It would take impeccable timing along with great hand-eye coordination to hit quality shots with any sort of regularity if the arms are working separately from the body.

Notice in the red pictures of both my 60-degree wedge and 8-iron how high my hands are and the fact you can clearly see my shoulder through the gap in my arms. That has happened because the right arm, just above my elbow, has become totally disconnected from my body. That separation causes me to lift my hands as well as lose some of the extension in my left arm. This has been corrected in the green pictures by using this drill to reinforce that connection. It will also make you focus on keeping the lead arm close to your body as well. Because the moment either one loses that relationship, the towel falls.

Conclusion

I have been diligent this year in finding a few drills that target some of the issues that plague my golf game; either by simply forgetting fundamental things or by coming to terms with the faults that have bitten me my whole career. I have found that having a few drills to fall back on to reinforce certain feelings helps me find my game a little easier, and the “towel drill” is most definitely one of them.

Your Reaction?
  • 11
  • LEGIT1
  • WOW2
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP2
  • OB0
  • SHANK8

Continue Reading

Instruction

Clement: Why your practice swing never sucks

Published

on

You hear that one all the time; I wish I could put my practice swing on the ball! We explain the huge importance of what to focus on to allow the ball to be perfectly in the way of your practice swing. Enjoy!

 

Your Reaction?
  • 0
  • LEGIT0
  • WOW0
  • LOL0
  • IDHT0
  • FLOP0
  • OB0
  • SHANK2

Continue Reading

WITB

Facebook

Trending